Split Decisions
by AudiophileChica
Summary: She's a beautiful woman... She's a friend... She's his boss... She's in more danger than she cares to admit... And he cares more than he realized....


Okay, we all know the standard disclaimer… I don't own any of these characters, blah, blah, blah… No need to go over all of that again.

*****

"Van, Deaq, get in here!"

"I didn't do it," Van defended as he walked into Lt. Billie Chambers' office with his partner in tow.

"For once, you're right, Van." Billie turned her gaze to Deaq. "The next time you take the Ferrari out for a joyride, don't leave the Taco Bell wrappers in the glove compartment. The whole car smells like bean burritos." She said it with a half-smile, but there was no mistaking the fact that she was dead serious.

"You're right, my bad." Deaq held his hands up in defense and flashed his most charming smile. "But since, you know, this was my first offense, you think we might be able to let it slide? I mean, compared to klepto-cop here, I'm a boy scout."

Van turned his chair to face his partner, completely ignoring the fact that Billie had indeed called them in there for a purpose. "Klepto-cop? What are you talking about, dude? You were the one that wrecked the Steve McQueen car!"

"But it was your dumbass idea to take it in the first place!"

"You drove!"

"Only because I knew if I let you go off by yourself, there was a good chance you'd get yourself killed, partner!"

"Well, PARTNER, you almost did a pretty good job of that yourself, now didn't you?! Now if I had been driving, we wouldn't have had any prob-"

"If YOU had been driving? Are you kidding me? I seem to recall a story about a GT40 ending up totaled in a bad way! Now was that or was that not you?"

"Oh, you just had to go there, didn't you? What about the time you-"

"CHILDREN!" Van was cut off in mid sentence by Billie. "Need I remind you who controls the embarrassment level of your assignments?" That gave Billie their full attention. "Now, are you ready to talk business?"

"Yes, Sir," Van sighed, turning his chair back around to face the now sitting Billie.

"Yeah, sorry," Deaq added.

"Okay, so we have a little problem." Billie clicked the mouse on her computer and a picture of Gavin West popped up on the screen behind her.

Van shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Since when is Gavin West a 'little' problem?"

"Wait a minute. Since when is Gavin West a problem at all? I thought he was gone for good," Deaq said sitting up.

"He was gone… until he escaped from his prisoner transport escorts. All three guards were killed; gunshot wounds to the chests and heads."

Deaq immediately went into cop mode. "Helpers?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Billie clicked her mouse again and a photo from the security camera of the transport van appeared on the screen, replacing Gavin's mug shot. "This is Miguel Escondido. He's Gavin's number one muscle man."

"Where was he when we took Gavin down?" Deaq questioned.

"Taking care of some 'business' in Miami. By the time he got back, we had already busted Gavin. My guess is he feels guilty because he wasn't there to protect Gavin from the big, bad cops, so now he's trying to get back on his good side by breaking him out." Billie stopped and studied Van for a moment. He was staring right through Billie's desk. "What's got you burning a hole through my desk?"

Van's eyes met Billie's with an intensely controlled look. "He's coming after you, Billie."

"Van, we don't know that. Chances are, he's getting as far away from me as possible, but that doesn't mean we can't find him," Billie said with a smirk.

Van didn't return her smile the way Deaq did. "No, Billie, I'm serious. He will come after you. It's just a matter of time," Van said, rising to pace in front of Billie's desk.

Deaq studied his partner. He could tell there was something else going on in Van's ever-busy mind besides Gavin West, but he would delve into that later. "Van, what makes you so sure he's not just gonna jet off to some unknown island and lay low? Why would he risk coming after Billie?"

Van stopped his pacing to lean on the back of his chair. "Because she's a challenge. His biggest challenge, as a matter of fact. He thought he'd always be able to control you, but you proved him wrong. You got him, you took him down. In his mind, no woman is ever better than him, and you basically spit in his face. He wants revenge, and he'll risk getting caught to get it."

Billie looked at Van skeptically. "And just when did you get an all access pass into his head?"

Van turned his back to Billie and Deaq and looked out over the Candy Store. When he spoke, he did so quietly. "I went to talk to him after you guys left the day we busted him. The look in his eyes when he talked about you, Billie, it made me sick. Something inside him snapped, and he is not going to let you go without a fight."

"Van, I appreciate your concern, but I can handle myself, and I can handle Gavin West. Trust me. Now go work on your back paperwork. I'll let you know as soon as I get the rest of our case information. I just wanted to give you the heads up." Billie turned back to her computer.

Deaq silently followed Van back to their desks. He waited until they were away from Billie to speak. "Van, you know Billie can handle this, right? We can all handle this."

Van's eyes never left Billie's office as he replied. "I'm not afraid of what Gavin will try to do because I know how good Billie is. What I'm afraid of is what I'll do if I get a hold of him before someone else does…."

*****

Okay, so there's the first chapter. I know it's really short, but I wanted to see what the response is before I go too much further. Send me some honest reviews and we'll see where it goes from there! Please review, please review, please, please, PLEASE!!! LoL! Okay, I'm done begging now!


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